Healthcare payment aggregation system

ABSTRACT

A healthcare payment aggregation service is provided. The service receives invoice information (e.g., identifying a patient and an amount due) sent from multiple healthcare providers who each sends their own invoices to its patients. The service receives a request from a user to access their invoices. The service identifies invoices received from multiple healthcare providers that identify the user as the patient. The service displays an indication of the healthcare provider and amount due of one or more the identified invoices. The service receives from the user an instruction to pay the amount due of a designated invoice of the displayed invoices. The system directs that payment for the amount due of the designated invoice be transferred from an account of the user to an account of the healthcare provider of the designated invoice. The service then notifies the healthcare provider of the designated invoice of the payment.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/787,150 filed on Dec. 31, 2018, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

A patient may interact with many healthcare providers to receive thebest medical care. Indeed, some patient can interact with 10 or morehealthcare providers. These healthcare providers may include primarycare physicians, specialists (e.g., neurologist and rheumatologists),physical therapists, hospitals, laboratories, and so on. Thesehealthcare providers may not be affiliated with each other. As a result,each healthcare provide may send its own invoices to its patients. Evenwhat may appear to a patient to be single healthcare provider mayactually be in fact multiple healthcare providers. For example, ahospital may have emergency room physicians, surgeons, physicaltherapists, radiologists, and so on who each affiliated with differentorganizations that each sends its own invoices to patients.

A patient who receives many invoices from many healthcare providers mayhave difficulty keep track of what invoices have been paid and when theinvoices have been paid. As a result, patients may not pay theirinvoices in a timely manner. To help patients keep track of theirinvoices, to improve cash flow, and to avoid the cost of paper invoices,many healthcare providers provide portals (e.g., websites) through whichtheir patients can track their invoices and make payments. Thehealthcare providers may send electronic notifications (e.g., emails andtext messages) to patients when an invoice is issued and past due.Although a portal can be convenient for a patient, if a patientinteracts with many healthcare providers, the patient may find it veryinconvenient to have to access multiple portals to pay their healthcareinvoices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a display page for a patient to pay an invoicewithout having to log in to the HPPA system in some embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a display page for a patient to pay an invoice insome embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates a display page for a patient whose provider is signedup for automatic reconciliation is registered to pay an invoice in someembodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates a display page for a patient whose provider is notsigned up for automatic reconciliation in some embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates a display page for confirming payment in someembodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates a dashboard display page for a patient in someembodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates a dashboard display page for a healthcare provider insome embodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates a create invoice display page in some embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates a collect on-site payment dialog box in someembodiments.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram that illustrates components of the HPPAsystem in some embodiments.

FIG. 11 illustrates flow diagrams of the processing of various systemsof a HPPA service in some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Methods and systems are provided for aggregating patient invoice andpayment information of multiple healthcare providers who are notaffiliated with each other. In some embodiments, a healthcare providerpayment aggregation (“HPPA”) system of an HPPA service provides patientswith access to invoices of the healthcare providers (even unaffiliatedhealthcare providers) that provide services to the patients. Forexample, if a patient receives medical services at both a hospital and aclinic that is unaffiliated with the hospital, the patient can viewinvoices from both medical providers via a patient interface provided bythe HPPA system. The HPPA system also provides payment processingservice for the invoices. Continuing with the example, when the patientindicates to pay an invoice of the hospital, the HPPA system may usestored credit card information to make the payment to the hospital onbehalf of the patient. Similarly, the HPPA system can use the storedcredit card information to make a payment to the clinic. A payment canbe made when manually requested by a patient or via an automatic paymentfeature.

In some embodiments, the HPPA system receives invoice information sentfrom healthcare providers who are registered with the HPPA system. Theinvoice information may be sent by an HPPA application that executes ona computer system of a healthcare provider and that provides invoice andpayment services to the healthcare provider. The HPPA application mayalternatively execute on a computer system controlled by the HPPAservice (e.g., cloud-based) that provides a webpage patient experience.Alternatively, the invoice information may be sent by an HPPA interfaceclient that executes on the computer system of the healthcare providerand that interfaces with an existing invoice and payment system of thehealthcare provider. The invoice information includes invoices thatidentify the patient and the amount due. The invoices may also identifythe healthcare provider, an invoice identifier (e.g., invoice number), aservice date, a due date, a description of the service, and so on.

When the HPPA system receives a request from a patient to access theirinvoices, the HPPA system identifies invoices received from healthcareproviders that identify the patient as the patient. For example, thepatient may be identified by a government issued identifier, full namealong with address and date of birth, and so on. The HPPA system maythen display invoice information for each invoice (e.g., pendinginvoice) for the patient. When the HPPA system receives from the patientan instruction to pay the amount due of a designated (e.g., selected)invoice of a displayed invoice, the HPPA system directs payment of theamount due (or another amount) of the designated invoice be transferredfrom an account of the patient to an account of the healthcare providerof the designated invoice. The HPPA system then notifies the healthcareprovider of the payment. The healthcare provider can be notifiedimmediately after the payment is completed or notified periodically(e.g., nightly) along with other payment notifications. The HPPA systemalso provides various reports to the healthcare providers such aspending invoices, paid invoices, average time to payment, overdueinvoices, and so on.

The service provided by the HPPA system that allows for healthcareproviders to send their invoices (or more precisely accounts-receivableinformation) to the HPPA system and receive payments for those invoicesis referred to automatic reconciliation service. The HPPA systemprovides the automatic reconciliation only to healthcare providers whoare registered for that service. A healthcare provider can alternativelyregister for a manual reconciliation service. With a manualreconciliation service, the healthcare provider does not provideinvoices to the HPPA system. Rather, a patient provides invoiceinformation (identifying the healthcare provider and invoice) to theHPPA system, and the HPPA system directs payment of the invoice onbehalf of the patient. The invoices of the manual reconciliation serviceare referred to as patient-provided invoices because they are providedby the patient and not the healthcare provider. With the manualreconciliation service, the HPPA system also notifies the healthcareprovider of the payment.

In some embodiments, the HPPA system provides a patient interface thatallows patients to effectively monitor and pay their invoices. The HPPAsystem provides a dashboard display page that identifies one or morepending invoices of different healthcare providers. The dashboarddisplay page also identifies recent payments to the healthcare providersand may provide payment statistics (e.g., total payments to eachhealthcare provider). The HPPA system provides an invoices pendingdisplay page through which the patient can review all pending invoicesincluding invoices from different healthcare providers and pay theinvoices. The HPPA system provides a healthcare provider display pagethrough which a patient can review authorized healthcare providers forwhich the patient has authorized the HPPA system to receive invoices ofthe patient and through which the patient can authorize andde-authorized healthcare providers.

In some embodiments, the HPPA system may also provide an intelligentnotification system to both prevent a patient from feeling overwhelmedby the notifications and improve the speed of payments. The intelligentnotification system may allow each healthcare provider to establish itsown notification plan for its patients. For example, one healthcareprovider may establish a notification plan to send two electronicnotifications (e.g., two weeks apart) followed by paper notificationsuntil a patient is made, and another healthcare provider may send fourelectronic notifications followed by paper notifications. Theintelligent notification system may provide a healthcare provider withthe option of allowing the intelligent notification system toautomatically establish a notification plan that is tailored to eachpatient. The intelligent notification system can use knowledge of thenotification history of a patient with multiple healthcare providers andpayment history (e.g., payment patterns) to select a notification planthat is likely to be effective for a patient. For example, if a patientonly pays an invoice after receiving a paper notification, theintelligent notification system may establish a notification plan forthat patient that only sends paper notifications. In contrast, if apatient tends to pay an invoice after three electronic notifications,the intelligent notification system may send three (or four) electronicnotifications to that patient before sending a paper notification. Insuch a case, the intelligent notification system may reduce the timebetween electronic notifications, for example, from two weeks to 10 daysto encourage faster payment. The intelligent notification system may usevarious algorithms for establishing a notification plan for a patientwhich may include establishing a notification plan specifically designedto learn the payment behavior of a patient. For example, an algorithmmay establish an initial notification plan that sends five electronicnotifications and then paper notifications (and possibly subsequentelectronic notifications). If a patient tends to pay invoices afterthree electronic notifications, the algorithm may adjust thenotification plan to send only three electronic notification followed bypaper notifications. If a patient does not even respond after fiveelectronic notifications, the algorithm may skip electronicnotifications and immediately send a paper notification. Also, thealgorithm may also establish a notification plan that factors in thehistory of the timing when a patient makes payments. For example, if apatient tends to pay invoices on the second day of a month, thealgorithm may send an electronic notification on the first day of themonth. As another example, if a patient tends to pay invoices two daysafter the initial electronic notification, the algorithm may send thesecond electronic invoice five days later rather than the standard 10days later.

Although the HPPA system is described primarily in the context ofinvoices relating to service providers that are healthcare providers,the HPPA system (or more generally, a service provider paymentaggregation system) can be used to aggregate payment information formany different types of service providers that provide services toservice recipients (e.g., customers or other individuals, organizations,and persons responsible to pay invoices for services provided for aservice recipient). For example, the service providers may includeattorneys, accountants, photographers, gardeners, pool cleaners,housekeepers, and so on.

FIG. 1 illustrates a display page for a patient to pay an invoicewithout having to log in (e.g., a patient without an account) to theHPPA system in some embodiments. A display page 100 includes selectionoptions 110 that indicate the user has specified that they are apatient. To pay an invoice without having to log in, the patient canselect the pay invoice button 120.

FIG. 2 illustrates a display page for a patient to pay an invoice insome embodiments. A display page 200 includes a provider selection field210 and a predictive matches area 220. As the patient starts to enterthe name of a healthcare provider, the predictive matches are updated.The patient can then select one of the healthcare providers of thepredictive matches.

FIG. 3 illustrates a display page for a patient whose provider is signedup for automatic reconciliation is registered to pay an invoice in someembodiments. A display page 300 displays invoice number field 310 andinvoice payment information box 320. The HPPA system may also brand thevarious display pages with names and logo of the providers. For example,since the provider is known to be Acme Pediatrics, the HPPA system mayadd a logo for Acme Pediatrics to the top of display page 300. When apatient enters the invoice number of the invoice to be paid, the HPPAsystem checks its database (or data stores) to determine whether aninvoice with that invoice number for the selected healthcare providerhas been received. If so, the HPPA system populates the invoice paymentinformation box 320 with information such as patient name, patient emailaddress, and invoice amount 321. The patient can enter credit cardinformation into the credit card boxes 322, or the credit card boxes maybe prepopulated when the patient has an account with the HPPA system.When the patient selects the submit payment button 323, the HPPA systemdirects payment of the invoice and notifies the healthcare provider.

FIG. 4 illustrates a display page for a patient whose provider is notsigned up for automatic reconciliation in some embodiments. If aninvoice with the invoice number entered on display page 200 has not beenreceived from the selected healthcare provider, then the HPPA systemdisplays display page 400 that includes fields 410 for entering thepatient name, date of birth, date of visit, and email address. After thepatient enters this information, the HPPA system displays an invoicepayment box 420 that allows the patient to enter the payment amount 421and credit card information 422. The patient can then select the submitbutton 423 to authorize payment.

FIG. 5 illustrates a display page for confirming payment in someembodiments. A display page 500 identifies the patient's email that isused to identify the patient and provides a password entry field 510. Ifthe patient is not registered with the HPPA system, the patient canregister by entering a password for the registration. The patient thenselects a button 522 the dashboard display page. The HPPA system alsoprovides a separate registration process so a patient can register priorto making a payment.

FIG. 6 illustrates a dashboard display page for a patient in someembodiments. A dashboard display page 600 includes a pending invoicesection 610, a recent activity section 620, a recently paid healthcareprovider section 630, a registered payment section 640, and paymentstatistics 650. The pending invoice section lists at least some of thepending invoices, which may include the most recent invoices or past dueinvoices. The recent activity section lists recent payments by thepatient. The recently paid healthcare provider section list healthcareproviders to whom payments have recently been made. The registeredpayment section lists registered payment information such as credit cardinformation. The payment statistics information displays statisticsabout patient invoices and payments such as total payments made in thelast year.

FIG. 7 illustrates a dashboard display page for a healthcare provider insome embodiments. A dashboard display page 700 includes a collecton-site payment button 310, a statistic area 720, and graphs 730 and740. A healthcare provider selects the collect on-site payment button torecord a payment made by the patient on-site at a medical facilitydirectly to the healthcare provider. The statistics area displaysvarious statistics relating to the healthcare provider such as such asthe number of invoices that have been paid. The graphs illustraterevenue information and patient payment information.

FIG. 8 illustrates a create invoice display page in some embodiments. Acreate invoice display page 800 includes data entry fields 810 and asend invoice button 820. If a patient has already paid an invoice to theprovider, the provider can select a patient to display all the fieldsexcept for the invoice amount. The healthcare provider then enters theinvoice amount and selects the send invoice button.

FIG. 9 illustrates a collect on-site payment dialog box in someembodiments. When healthcare provider selects the collect on-sitepayment button, the HPPA system displays a dialog box 900. The dialogbox allows the healthcare provider to enter a payment amount that ispaid by the patient on-site at a medical facility identified on displaypage 800.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram that illustrates components of the HPPAsystem in some embodiments. The HPPA system 1010, healthcare providerpayment (“HPP”) systems 1020, and patient systems 1030 communicate viacommunications channel 1040. The HPPA system includes a receive invoiceinformation component 1011, a send payment notifications component 1013,a patient user experience component 1015, and a healthcare provider userexperience component 1017. The HPPA system also includes an invoiceinformation store 1012, a payment store 1014, a patient store 1016, anda healthcare provider store 1018. The receive invoice informationcomponent receives invoices from the HPP systems and stores the invoiceinformation in the invoice information store. The send paymentnotifications component sends payment notifications to the HPP systemsbased on payments recorded in the payment store. The patient userexperience component provides display pages to patients based oninformation stored in the invoice information store, payment store, andpatient store. The healthcare provider user experience componentcontrols the user experience for a healthcare provider and storesinvoice and payment in the healthcare provider store. The healthcareprovider user experience component may also be implemented on an HPPsystem.

The computing systems (e.g., network nodes or collections of networknodes) on which the HPPA system may be implemented may include a centralprocessing unit, input devices, output devices (e.g., display devicesand speakers), storage devices (e.g., memory and disk drives), networkinterfaces, graphics processing units, cellular radio link interfaces,global positioning system devices, and so on. The input devices mayinclude keyboards, pointing devices, touch screens, gesture recognitiondevices (e.g., for air gestures), head and eye tracking devices,microphones for voice recognition, and so on. The computing systems mayinclude desktop computers, laptops, tablets, e-readers, personal digitalassistants, smartphones, gaming devices, servers, and so on. Thecomputing systems may access computer-readable media that includecomputer-readable storage media and data transmission media. Thecomputer-readable storage media are tangible storage means that do notinclude a transitory, propagating signal. Examples of computer-readablestorage media include memory such as primary memory, cache memory, andsecondary memory (e.g., DVD) and other storage. The computer-readablestorage media may have recorded on them or may be encoded withcomputer-executable instructions or logic that implements the HPPAsystem. The data transmission media are used for transmitting data viatransitory, propagating signals or carrier waves (e.g.,electromagnetism) via a wired or wireless connection. The computingsystems may include a secure cryptoprocessor as part of a centralprocessing unit for generating and securely storing keys and forencrypting and decrypting data using the keys.

The HPPA system may be described in the general context ofcomputer-executable instructions, such as program modules andcomponents, executed by one or more computers, processors, or otherdevices. Generally, program modules or components include routines,programs, objects, data structures, and so on that perform tasks orimplement data types of the HPPA system. Typically, the functionality ofthe program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in variousexamples. Aspects of the HPPA system may be implemented in hardwareusing, for example, an application-specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”)or field programmable gate array (“FPGA”).

FIG. 11 illustrates flow diagrams of the processing of various systemsof a HPPA service in some embodiments. Flow diagram 1110 illustrates theprocessing of an HPP system, flow diagram 1120 illustrates theprocessing of HPPA system, and flow diagram 1130 illustrates theprocessing of a patient system. Initially, the HPP system sends 1111invoices to the HPPA system. Upon receiving invoices, the HPPA systemstores 1121 the invoices in the invoice information store. In responseto receiving a request to retrieve invoices, the patient system sends1120 the request to the HPPA system. Upon receiving the request, theHPPA system retrieves 1122 invoices from the invoice information store.The HPPA system then sends 1123 the retrieved invoices to the patientsystem. Upon receiving the invoices, the patient system receives paymentauthorization from a patient and sends 1132 the authorization to theHPPA system. Upon receiving the notification, the HPPA system stores1124 invoice payment information in the payment store. The HPPA systemthen directs 1125 payment to be made to the healthcare provider. TheHPPA system then sends 1126 a payment notification to the HPP system.Upon receiving the payment notification, the HPP system stores 1112payment information in the payment store and completes.

The following paragraphs describe various embodiments of aspects of theHPPA system. An implementation of the HPPA system may employ anycombination of the embodiments. The processing described below may beperformed by a computing system with a processor that executescomputer-executable instructions stored on a computer-readable storagemedium that implements the message interface system.

In some embodiments, a method performed by one or more computing systemsof a healthcare payment aggregation service is provided. The methodreceives invoice information sent from a plurality of healthcareproviders. The healthcare providers that separately create invoicestheir patients. The invoice information includes invoices that eachidentifies a patient and an amount due. The method receives a requestfrom a user to access their invoices. The method identifies invoicesreceived from multiple healthcare providers that identify the user asthe patient. The method displays an indication of the healthcareprovider and amount due of one or more the identified invoices. Themethod receives from the user an instruction to pay the amount due of adesignated invoice of the displayed invoices. The method directs thatpayment for the amount due of the designated invoice be transferred froman account of the user to an account of the healthcare provider of thedesignated invoice. The method notifies the healthcare provider of thedesignated invoice of the payment. In some embodiments, the methodreceives from another user a request to pay a patient-provided invoicethat has not been received from a specified healthcare provider by thehealthcare payment aggregation service. The request identifies a paymentamount and the specified healthcare provider. The method directs thatpayment for the payment amount due be transferred from an account of theother user to an account of the specified healthcare provider. Themethod notifies the specified healthcare provider of the payment for thepatient-provided invoice. In some embodiments, the request to pay thepatient-provided invoice identifies the specified healthcare provider,and the notifying of the specified healthcare provider identifies thepatient-provided invoice. In some embodiments, each invoice includes aninvoice identifier, and the notifying includes providing the invoiceidentifier of the designated invoice to the healthcare provider. In someembodiments, the method further when a user specifies to automaticallypay invoices of a specified healthcare provider, the method after aspecified invoice for the specified healthcare provider is received,directs that payment for the amount due of the specified invoice betransferred from an account of the user to an account of the specifiedhealthcare provider. The method then notifies the specified healthcareprovider of the payment.

In some embodiments, one or more computing systems of a healthcarepayment aggregation service are provided for providing a user experiencefor payment of healthcare providers that are not affiliated with eachother for invoicing purposes. The one or more computing systems includeone or more computer-readable storage mediums storingcomputer-executable instructions and one or more processors forexecuting the computer-executable instructions stored in the one or morecomputer-readable storage mediums. The instructions control the one ormore computing systems to display to a user a dashboard display pagethat identifies one or more pending invoices for different healthcareproviders, that identifies recent payments to different healthcareproviders whose invoices are handled by separate invoicing systems, andthat provides payment statistics. The instructions control the one ormore computing systems to display to the user an invoices pendingdisplay page through which the user can review pending invoicesincluding invoices from different healthcare providers and pay aninvoice. The instructions control the one or more computing systems todisplay to the user a healthcare providers display page through whichthe user can review authorized healthcare providers for which the userhas authorized the healthcare aggregation service to receive invoices ofthe user and through which the user can authorize and de-authorizedhealthcare providers. In some embodiments, the computer-executableinstructions further control the one or more computing systems toreceive a selection of an invoice and coordinate payment of the invoice.In some embodiments, the computer-executable instructions furthercontrol the one or more computing systems to upon receiving a selectionof an invoice, automatically paying the invoice based on previouslystored payment information. In some embodiments, the computer-executableinstructions further control the one or more computing systems todisplay a display page through which the user can designate a healthcareprovider whose invoice information for the user is to be sent to thehealthcare payment aggregation service.

In some embodiments, one or more computing systems that provide ahealthcare payment aggregation service are provided. The one or morecomputing systems include one or more computer-readable storage mediumsstoring computer-executable instructions and one or more processors forexecuting the computer-executable instructions stored in the one or morecomputer-readable storage mediums. The computer-executable instructionsfurther control the one or more computing systems to receive invoiceinformation sent from different healthcare provider computer systems ofdifferent healthcare providers. The invoice information includesinvoices that each identifies a healthcare provider, a patient and anamount due. The invoice information of at least two healthcare providersare not provided by the same computer system. The computer-executableinstructions further control the one or more computing systems toidentify invoices received from multiple healthcare provider computersystems that identify the user as the patient. The computer-executableinstructions further control the one or more computing systems toreceive from the user an instruction to pay the amount due of invoices.The computer-executable instructions further control the one or morecomputing systems to direct that payment for the amount due of anidentified invoice be transferred from an account of the user to anaccount of the healthcare provider of the identified invoice. Thecomputer-executable instructions further control the one or morecomputing systems to notify the healthcare provider of the identifiedinvoice of the payment. In some embodiments, the computer-executableinstructions further control the one or more computing systems todisplay an indication of the identified invoice and receive from theuser an indication to pay the invoice. In some embodiments, thecomputer-executable instructions further control the one or morecomputing systems to automatically direct payment based on receiving theidentified invoice. In some embodiments, the computer-executableinstructions further control the one or more computing systems toreceive from another user a request to pay a patient-provided invoicethat has not been received from a specified healthcare provider by thehealthcare payment aggregation service. The request identifies a paymentamount and the specified healthcare provider. The computer-executableinstructions further control the one or more computing systems to directthat payment for the payment amount due be transferred from an accountof the other user to an account of the specified healthcare provider.The computer-executable instructions further control the one or morecomputing systems to notify the specified healthcare provider of thepayment for the patient-provided invoice. In some embodiments, therequest to pay the patient-provided invoice identifies the specifiedhealthcare provider, and the notifying of the specified healthcareprovider identifies the patient-provided invoice. In some embodiments,each invoice includes an invoice identifier, and the notifying includesproviding the invoice identifier of the identified invoice to thehealthcare provider. In some embodiments, the computer-executableinstructions further control the one or more computing systems to sendelectronic notifications to patients to inform the patients wheninvoices are received. In some embodiments, the computer-executableinstructions further control the one or more computing systems to sendelectronic notifications of invoices followed by paper notificationswhile an invoice is not paid. In some embodiments, thecomputer-executable instructions further control the one or morecomputing systems establish a notification plan of sending electronicnotification and paper notifications based on a history of a patient inresponding to notifications. In some embodiments, thecomputer-executable instructions further control the one or morecomputing systems to learn the payment pattern of a patient based onapplying different notification plans. In some embodiments, thenotification plan is established based on history of a patient inresponding to notifications of different healthcare providers.

In some embodiments, a method performed by one or more computing systemsof a service payment aggregation service is provided. The methodreceives invoice information sent from a plurality of service providers.The service providers that separately create invoices their servicerecipients. The invoice information includes invoices that eachidentifies a service recipient and an amount due. The method receives arequest from a user to access their invoices. The method identifiesinvoices received from multiple service providers that identify the useras the service recipient. The method displays an indication of theservice provider and amount due of one or more the identified invoices.The method receives from the user an instruction to pay the amount dueof a designated invoice of the displayed invoices. The method directsthat payment for the amount due of the designated invoice be transferredfrom an account of the user to an account of the service provider of thedesignated invoice. The method notifies the service provider of thedesignated invoice of the payment. In some embodiments, the methodreceives from another user a request to pay a service recipient-providedinvoice that has not been received from a specified service provider bythe service payment aggregation service. The request identifies apayment amount and the specified service provider. The method directsthat payment for the payment amount due be transferred from an accountof the other user to an account of the specified service provider. Themethod notifies the specified service provider of the payment for theservice recipient-provided invoice. In some embodiments, the request topay the service recipient-provided invoice identifies the specifiedservice provider, and the notifying of the specified service provideridentifies the service recipient-provided invoice. In some embodiments,each invoice includes an invoice identifier, and the notifying includesproviding the invoice identifier of the designated invoice to theservice provider. In some embodiments, the method further when a userspecifies to automatically pay invoices of a specified service provider,the method after a specified invoice for the specified service provideris received, directs that payment for the amount due of the specifiedinvoice be transferred from an account of the user to an account of thespecified service provider. The method then notifies the specifiedservice provider of the payment.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or acts, it is to be understood that the subjectmatter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to thespecific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific featuresand acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementingthe claims. Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by theappended claims.

I/we claim:
 1. A method performed by one or more computing systems of ahealthcare payment aggregation service, the method comprising: receivinginvoice information sent from a plurality of healthcare providers, thehealthcare providers that separately create invoices for their patients,the invoice information including invoices that each identifies apatient and an amount due; receiving a request from a user to accesstheir invoices; identifying invoices received from multiple healthcareproviders that identify the user as the patient; displaying anindication of the healthcare provider and amount due of one or more theidentified invoices; receiving from the user an instruction to pay theamount due of a designated invoice of the displayed invoices; directingthat payment for the amount due of the designated invoice be transferredfrom an account of the user to an account of the healthcare provider ofthe designated invoice; and notifying the healthcare provider of thedesignated invoice of the payment.
 2. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising: receiving from another user a request to pay apatient-provided invoice that has not been received from a specifiedhealthcare provider by the healthcare payment aggregation service, therequest identifying a payment amount and the specified healthcareprovider; directing that payment for the payment amount due betransferred from an account of the other user to an account of thespecified healthcare provider; and notifying the specified healthcareprovider of the payment for the patient-provided invoice.
 3. The methodof claim 2 wherein the request to pay the patient-provided invoiceidentifies the specified healthcare provider and wherein the notifyingof the specified healthcare provider identifies the patient-providedinvoice.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein each invoice includes aninvoice identifier and the notifying includes providing the invoiceidentifier of the designated invoice to the healthcare provider.
 5. Themethod of claim 1 further comprising when a user specifies toautomatically pay invoices of a specified healthcare provider, after aspecified invoice for the specified healthcare provider is received,directing that payment for the amount due of the specified invoice betransferred from an account of the user to an account of the specifiedhealthcare provider; and notifying the specified healthcare provider ofthe payment.
 6. One or more computing systems of a healthcare paymentaggregation service for providing a user experience for payment ofhealthcare providers that are not affiliated with each other forinvoicing purposes, the one or more computing systems comprising: one ormore computer-readable storage mediums storing computer-executableinstructions for controlling the one or more computing systems to:display to a user a dashboard display page that identifies one or morepending invoices for different healthcare providers, that identifiesrecent payments to different healthcare providers whose invoices arehandled by separate invoicing systems, and that provides paymentstatistics; display to the user an invoices pending display page throughwhich the user can review all pending invoices including invoices fromdifferent healthcare providers and pay an invoice; and display to theuser a healthcare providers display page through which the user canreview authorized healthcare providers for which the user has authorizedthe healthcare aggregation service to receive invoices of the user andthrough which the user can authorize and de-authorized healthcareproviders; and one or more processors for executing thecomputer-executable instructions stored in the one or morecomputer-readable storage mediums.
 7. The one or more computing systemsof claim 6 wherein the computer-executable instructions further controlthe one or more computing systems to receive a selection of an invoiceand coordinate payment of the invoice.
 8. The one or more computingsystems of claim 7 wherein the computer-executable instructions furthercontrol the one or more computing systems to upon receiving a selectionof an invoice, automatically paying the invoice based on previouslystored payment information.
 9. The one or more computing systems ofclaim 6 wherein the computer-executable instructions further control theone or more computing systems to display a display page through whichthe user can designate a healthcare provider whose invoice informationfor the user is to be sent to the healthcare payment aggregationservice.
 10. One or more computing systems that provide a healthcarepayment aggregation service, the one or more computing systemcomprising: one or more computer-readable storage mediums for storingcomputer-executable instructions for controlling the one or morecomputing systems to: receive invoice information sent from differenthealthcare provider computer systems of different healthcare providers,the invoice information including invoices that each identifies ahealthcare provider, a patient and an amount due, wherein the invoiceinformation of at least two healthcare providers are not provided by thesame computer system; identify invoices received from multiplehealthcare provider computer systems that identify the user as thepatient; receive from the user an instruction to pay the amount due ofinvoices; direct that payment for the amount due of an identifiedinvoice be transferred from an account of the user to an account of thehealthcare provider of the identified invoice; and notify the healthcareprovider of the identified invoice of the payment; and one or moreprocessors for executing the computer-executable instructions stored inthe one or more computer-readable storage mediums.
 11. The one or morecomputing systems of claim 10 wherein the computer-executableinstructions further control the one or more computing systems todisplay an indication of the identified invoice and receive from theuser an indication to pay the invoice.
 12. The one or more computingsystems of claim 10 wherein the computer-executable instructions furthercontrol the one or more computing systems to automatically directpayment based on receiving the identified invoice.
 13. The one or morecomputing systems of claim 10 wherein the computer-executableinstructions further control the one or more computing systems to:receive from another user a request to pay a patient-provided invoicethat has not been received from a specified healthcare provider by thehealthcare payment aggregation service, the request identifying apayment amount and the specified healthcare provider; direct thatpayment for the payment amount due be transferred from an account of theother user to an account of the specified healthcare provider; andnotify the specified healthcare provider of the payment for thepatient-provided invoice.
 14. The one or more computing systems of claim13 wherein the request to pay the patient-provided invoice identifiesthe specified healthcare provider and wherein the notifying of thespecified healthcare provider identifies the patient-provided invoice.15. The one or more computing systems of claim 10 wherein each invoiceincludes an invoice identifier and the notifying includes providing theinvoice identifier of the identified invoice to the healthcare provider.16. The one or more computing systems of claim 10 wherein thecomputer-executable instructions further control the one or morecomputing systems to send electronic notifications to patients to informthe patients when invoices are received.
 17. The one or more computingsystems of claim 10 wherein the computer-executable instructions furthercontrol the one or more computing systems to send electronicnotifications of invoices followed by paper notifications while aninvoice is not paid.
 18. The one or more computing systems of claim 17wherein the computer-executable instructions further control the one ormore computing systems establish a notification plan of sendingelectronic notification and paper notifications based on a history of apatient in responding to notifications.
 19. The one or more computingsystems of claim 18 wherein the computer-executable instructions furthercontrol the one or more computing systems to learn the payment patternof a patient based on applying different notification plans.
 20. The oneor more computing systems of claim 17 wherein the notification plan isestablished based on history of a patient in responding to notificationsof different healthcare providers.